Mfon is a senior at AF Brooklyn High, and she’s the president of her school’s chapter of The Curly Code, a club that celebrates natural hair and builds leadership skills. 

Throughout elementary and middle school, I was reluctant to wear my natural hair because most people around me wore their hair relaxed and pressured me to tame my “kinks.” But when I got to high school, one of my teachers, Ms. Duroska, introduced me to the Natural Hair Club. I learned both how to take care of my hair and embrace it. During my junior year, I had the opportunity to join the executive board of a new organization, The Curly Code. I now serve as our chapter’s president, and I feel empowered to embrace my natural hair. I’m proud to run the club while still maintaining my academic responsibilities.

The Curly Code has been impactful not only because of the products we provide but also because of the “Beauty & Brains” culture we’ve cultivated in our school. To encourage our classmates to stay invested in their studies, many of our monthly events have academic requirements for entry. We talk about college and play games, in addition to teaching our fellow students how to care for our curls. My E-Board and I spend countless hours after school meticulously planning our events, and this allows us to prepare for them to run perfectly.

Although I’ve been in my position for less than a year, I have learned a lot! For example, one of the responsibilities of our E-Board is to build partnerships to ensure we have products for our events. Our advisor coached us on how to use social media and email skills to connect with companies, which gives us the tools to communicate with potential sponsors. Developing our time management skills has helped us maintain our 3.5+ GPAs, balance college applications, AP homework, and exams, all while planning and executing events. It may sound like a lot of work, and it is, but having a school community that encourages you to love and learn your hair makes it all worth it.

I hope you take the initiative to start a Natural Hair Club at your school! There are many resources available, like our Instagram page @thecurlycode_afbhs. Like, comment, and follow us for a chance to win awesome swag from The Curly Code (brought to you by our partners over at Sticker Mule). Cheers to good grades and healthy hair!